Connemara, Sky Road, Kylemore Abbey, Ireland

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Connemara, Ireland features the Sky Road scenic drive and Kylemore Abbey, set amid beautiful green hills lined with stone walls in the west of Ireland. It is a region of coastal views, rolling farmlands, open meadows, winding country roads, and the big attraction, Kylemore Abbey, which is one of Ireland’s great castles that was a former private estate, then a girl’s school operated by Benedictine nuns.
Kylemore Abbey has become the most popular visitor attraction in the west of Ireland, famous for its beautiful mansion on the lake and extensive gardens all around -- certainly one of the most beautiful sites you’ll ever see.
The Abbey is easily reached on a day-trip from Galway city, which makes an ideal home base for exploring the majestic beauties of this area. You’ll find that Galway is a great town for strolling along its pedestrian main street with many shops and restaurants, including numerous pubs with live Irish music on offer. There are many fine hotels in Galway in a variety of price ranges to give you a good place to rest.
It’s just a quick look at Galway for now, which we show more of in our other Irish movies, then we’ll take you on a spectacular drive through Connemara and around the famous Sky Road, with some of the best views in Ireland, on our way to Kylemore Abbey, the main star of this show.
You’ll see that getting there is half the fun, driving north from Galway through the scenic grandeur of Connemara, passing through the villages of Moycullen and Oughterard, then stopping at Ballynahinch Castle Hotel.
That Sky Road scenic loop follows the famous coastal route west of the town of Clifden, with miles of stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and shoreline communities. We did quite a bit of stopping and getting out of the van while driving through Connemara to enjoy the landscape, take a good look at and snap some pictures, and stop for some shopping at a traditional Irish gift shop.
Kylemore Abbey is one of the great highlights of Ireland. It was a former private mansion. And then it was a Benedictine Abbey, and became a private school for girls, and now it’s a major tourist attraction as you can see because it's so beautiful here on the lake. There is also a large flower garden, two places to eat, and lovely walking paths to explore the extensive grounds and stroll along the lakeshore. It really is a wonderful spot to see in Ireland.
Probably the best part of the visit is simply looking at the Abbey across the beautiful lake. But you also get to go inside and tour the former mansion, and explore the surrounding property.
The Catholic girl school was operated by Benedictine nuns and it was open from 1923 until it closed in 2010. There's still an order of Benedictine nuns who live here and operate the facilities. We had a chance to speak with Sister Magdalena, one of the nuns who tells us about the Abbey.
You could walk from the Abbey to the gardens, but it is about half a mile. And so they provide a shuttle bus to bring you from the Abbey over to the garden. You can walk around and then take the bus back again.
As described on their excellent website, the Victorian Walled Garden is an oasis of splendor in the wild Connemara Countryside. First developed in the early days of the Castle during the late 1800s it once boasted 21 heated glass houses and a work force of 40 gardeners. One of the last walled gardens built during the Victorian period in Ireland.
In earlier years the garden fell into decline and became completely overgrown, with brambles and trees hiding all traces of it’s former glory. The Benedictine nuns began an extensive program of restoration in 1995 and in the year 2000 the Garden was opened to the public. The Garden is divided in two by a beautiful mountain stream that runs through a small shaded fernery, an important feature of any Victorian Garden.
We then finish with a music video showing more of the scenic landscapes of Connemara and the Sky Road.